This is an article about return, not risk. Taking VC money in no way increases your riskâyou're not personally liable for that money and a failure still ends with $0.
I'm not sure whether the change in return value matters enough to avoid VC money, but I do know that taking VC money absolutely 100% decreases personal risk.
If you bootstrap, you're investing both your own time and your own money. If the company fails, you've just lost a lot of time AND wiped yourself out financially. That's a huge risk.
If you take VC money, you're only investing your time. Yes, you might make less money off middle outcomes, but you've also eliminated all financial risk to yourself. There's no way that you walk away from a venture-backed startup with less money than you had going in.
I don't think anyone should consciously be advising the first option (bootstrapping) to anyone who is risk-averse.
I'm not sure whether the change in return value matters enough to avoid VC money, but I do know that taking VC money absolutely 100% decreases personal risk.
If you bootstrap, you're investing both your own time and your own money. If the company fails, you've just lost a lot of time AND wiped yourself out financially. That's a huge risk.
If you take VC money, you're only investing your time. Yes, you might make less money off middle outcomes, but you've also eliminated all financial risk to yourself. There's no way that you walk away from a venture-backed startup with less money than you had going in.
I don't think anyone should consciously be advising the first option (bootstrapping) to anyone who is risk-averse.